Disclosure Rules on Dangerous Chemicals Fuel Political Fight in Texas

Residents Have Trouble Learning If Hazardous Substances Are Stored Near Their Homes

By

Julia Harte

Updated Aug. 15, 2014 1:40 p.m. ET

More than a year after a fertilizer explosion in West, Texas, killed 15 people, it is now harder for state residents to learn whether hazardous chemicals are stored near their homes, an issue that is stoking political debate leading up to the Texas gubernatorial election.

Texas used to periodically release information about the nearly 70,000 manufacturing facilities that store hazardous chemicals in the state, in accordance with federal and Texas right-to-know laws. But in June, the office of Texas Attorney General Greg...